A Tale of Second Chances
by Yoruko Rhapsodos
Summary: In an unexpected twist, the quest ended with Kagome cursed into the form of a doll when the last person anyone expected got rid of the jewel trying to give her a second chance for a happy ending. Five hundred years later, she's bought in an odd store by a boy with silver hair and a gold-looking Egyptian necklace called the Millenium Ring, and new adventures begin...


Yami: You must not be as smart as I thought you were if you're pairing Kagome-san with the tomb robber.

Yoruko: *raises eyebrow* behave if you don't want me to banish you to the puzzle, Yami-san. Bakura being a thief isn't enough for me to warrant not liking him… Especially after learning just what got him so dark and bitter. Besides, you do what you have to in order to survive.

Yugi: Yoruko-san, do you not like Yami?

Yoruko: *shrugs* He's all right, Yugi-kun, but he was _never_ one of my favorite characters. I guess you could say that I'm indifferent towards him.

Bakura: Finally, someone smart enough to not like the pharaoh.

Ryou: Oh come on, be nice. The pharaoh's not _that_ bad.

Seto: He's not all that great either.

Yoruko: Yami-san, I'm kicking you out if your presence ended up being the catalyst for an argument.

Summary: The quest's finish took an unexpected turn when as a final act of betrayal, Kikyo attempts to kill Kagome. Then to everyone's shock, the last person anyone expected killed two birds with one stone by using a wish to simultaneously save Kagome and get rid of the Shikon no Tama. As a result, Kagome gets turned into a doll that could turn back into a human if possessed by or around someone with any amount of magic or spirit energy. She ends up back in her time, and eventually comes to be the possession of one Ryou Bakura. When Ryou moves to Domino City, Japan will Kagome be an unexpected ace in the hole to help Yugi and co survive the various plots against them? Or will she be a neutral entity, only stepping in to protect her new friends? Kagome/Bakura, (as in Yami Bakura/Akafia) possible fem!Yugi/Ryou or Marik

Disclaimer: Yoruko Rhapsodos doesn't own anything her readers recognize in her fanfiction.

**Prologue:**

**Betrayal and Repayment**

Kagome watched as Sango embraced Kohaku and Miroku stared at his now normal right hand. At last, after over a year- almost two- the 'quest' Kagome almost thought would never end was over. She smiled to herself. Her friends would finally get their 'happily ever after'.

But Kagome's own happiness and her friends' moment of celebration was short lived. Not one of Kagome's traveling companions- except for Shippo and possibly Kirara- expected what happened next, which Sesshomaru felt was foolish; even Rin had worried over such a thing after all.

One moment, most of her friends were so preoccupied over their victory Kagome was almost in the back of their minds. The next, a scream of pain led everyone's eyes towards her. What they saw become forever etched in their memories.

An arrow was piercing Kagome's shoulder- it went straight through. They followed the most probable path with their eyes. They saw Kikyo, bow still held in the ready position. It was clear by the look on her face that for once, she had missed. Suddenly, Kikyo, who had been surprisingly close- Inuyasha would not let anyone help, for he still trusted his old flame- walked up to Kagome. The two of them were all anyone noticed at the moment, those Inuyasha could not hold back found themselves rooted to the spot where they stood, unable to move.

Then, Kikyo took a knife (no one knew where it came from) and stabbed Kagome in the stomach. Kagome truly looked shocked, she had never hated Kikyo, though since she thought still wasn't over her crush on Inuyasha she was sometimes bitter towards the undead miko. Kikyo's face, however, was cold and expressionless as ever.

For a moment it was almost like time had frozen. Even Kohaku afterward found himself unable to forget Kikyo's look of cold satisfaction, the shockingly indifferent look on Inuyasha's face, and most of all, Kagome's expression of betrayal. Then Kagome's knees gave out and she could no longer manage to stand. But just as she started to fall, someone caught her.

The only ones who didn't seem surprised at just who it was were Sesshomaru and Kagome herself. It was a man- a human- who looked a lot like Naraku. It could only be, was clearly…

"Onigumo?" Kikyo asked, eyes narrowed.

"How the mighty have fallen. Even I when not corrupted by the taint that was Naraku, would never harm a young woman such as this one and I'm far from a saint. Why would you try to kill a girl who never meant you any harm? Even Naraku could see that she never hated you and had given up on Inuyasha long ago. I was drawn to you because I could see a hint of darkness lurking just under the surface which mesmerized me but I never thought you would sink so low."

"I need my soul back." Kikyo stated matter of factly, as if it was a perfectly sensible for cold blooded murder and that that was the end of it.

"Tsk tsk. Has death twisted even your logic so much? You ought to know as well as I do that even if the souls you steal could truly provide enough sustenance and energy for you to survive with only a small piece of a soul, the pain of having a fractured soul would have driven her to illness or being bed-ridden by now if she were truly your reincarnation. Besides, she's nothing like you ever were in either looks, personality, or power- you can't see ghosts' 'human form' or whatever it was they were in life, for example." Onigumo admonished.

Only Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha out of those who knew this tidbit were truly surprised at this knowledge. Kagome's eyes sparkled with a hint of happiness that someone realized and acknowledged in a positive light the differences between her and Kikyo.

"Is this true, Onigumo-san?" Miroku asked.

"The fact that Kagome is not only alive today but is in full heal proves it." The (possibly former) thief pointed out.

Rin looked at Sesshomaru. "Sesshomaru-sama, will Kagome Onee-san be okay?"

The inu youkai shook his head. "Even if we gave her temporary treatment now, she would not last long enough to either bring her to someone who could or to bring help to her. We are too far from any form of village."

At this point everyone was ignoring Onigumo but Kagome, who he still held. He picked up something from the ground that glowed faintly and held it in his hand. "I wish for Kagome to have a second chance to find love and happiness."

There was a flash of light. When it finally cleared… Kagome was gone.

"What have you done?!" Sango shouted.

"If I left things as they were… She would never have found true happiness even if she survived those wounds. So… I killed two birds with one stone." Onigumo replied.

"What do you mean?" Miroku asked.

"I'm probably the last person who deserves such a thing… yet because of Kagome I have a second chance. I had to repay her somehow so to serve my purpose I took advantage of the fact that I have no emotional attachment to get rid of the jewel which caused all of this grief."

"What the hell do you mean?!" Inuyasha demanded.

"More importantly, that doesn't actually answer our questions." Miroku added.

"It means, Otouto, that the very things you were warned of by Kagome and the undead miko's sister happened." Sesshomaru said, quite possibly the only one who understood what Onigumo said.

"Huh?" Inuyasha clearly had no idea what that meant; the hanyou didn't listen well to anyone even when the subject being talked about was important.

"Don't you remember Inuyasha?" reminded Shippo, "Kaede-san told you to take extra care in protecting Kagome around Kikyo because there was no telling what she would try to do to her."

"And Kagome herself told you all that if you were to be insistent on making her use her spirit energy in the final battle against Naraku, that you should at least make sure that her spirit energy wasn't involved in what finished him off because her powers had not only been improving ever since she first started to gain true control of them through proper training but that they could be unpredictable. My arm is proof enough of that. However, I too wish to know why Onigumo did such a thing." Sesshomaru explained.

Onigumo shook his head at how thick-headed Kagome's friends could be at times, and at Sesshomaru's attempts at getting under their skin. "Kagome even after she mostly got over her feelings for Inuyasha cared deeply for him in spite of the heartbreak she suffered because of him and Kikyo. She also used her powers in the final battle knowing full well what the consequences could be, and continued to do her part in putting the jewel together when she had no real reason to do so. Such an admirable young woman deserves happiness more so than most, yet got only an attempt on her life. I owed her a great debt- one I had no reason or obligation to fulfill, I also had no emotional attachment. Therefore giving her a chance to be happy through using the Shikon on Tama got rid of said jewel."

As all of those who cared for Kagome mourned their loss, Shippo, who was perhaps the most affected yet unable to bring himself to cry, only had the energy to whisper- perhaps to whoever bothered to listen, perhaps to himself- "Good luck, Kagome Kaa-san." I hope you find the happiness you deserve."

**Owari**


End file.
